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The 17th Century Czech philosopher and scholar Jan Amos Komensky, or Comenius, is an iconic figure in this country, and is famous throughout the world for his influential work. Know as 'The Teacher of Nations', his name has been adopted by UNESCO for one of its most prestigious awards, and perhaps more fittingly, by the National Comenius Pedagogical Library in Prague. That's where a new exhibition opened this week, aiming to acquaint students and other users of the library with Komensky's life and work - with a special focus on his role as a

In 2004, the police asked a court in Prague for permission to tap the phone of Jaroslav Capek, a restitution lawyer based in Hradec Kralove, East Bohemia. The police were trying to prove that Mr Capek committed frauds while representing Frantisek Oldrich Kinsky in his disputes with the state over confiscated family property. On Wednesday, the Czech Constitutional Court ruled that the interception was unsubstantiated and illegal.

The Czech Republic's national football squad went a long way on Wednesday to repairing a somewhat bruised reputation by securing a sensational win few expected to see: a 3:0 defeat of Germany at the shiny Allianz stadium in Munich. The win saw the Czechs join Germany in qualifying for next year's European Championship held in Austria and Switzerland.

What seemed to be a matter of fact turned into a defeat for Czech diplomats at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. The Czech Republic's bid for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council of the UN ended without success. Czechs withdrew their candidacy into the Security Council after the second voting round results indicated that an increasing number of countries supported Croatia, the other candidate for the post.

According to some reports that have appeared on British internet sites recently, the Czech Republic is currently the best place for UK investors to buy property in the whole of the eastern Europe region. The reports have been quoting the investment advisers and agents Property Secrets, specifically their chief analyst Simon Tweddle, who himself lives in Prague. I asked him: why is the Czech Republic such a good place to invest in property?

The winners and runners-up in the prestigious Press Czech Photo 2007 - excellence in Czech photography in categories in everything from current affairs to nature to sport were announced on Wednesday, with the grand prize awarded to Dan Materna of the Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes. He won for a picture that shocked many in the Czech Republic earlier this year.

In the last six decades, over five million young people in over 100 countries have participated in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, and have happy memories of helping the elderly across roads and trudging up steep hills with heavy rucksacks. Since 1993, this experience has been available to young people in the Czech Republic. The scheme, which encourages young people to become active citizens in their home countries, was introduced to this country by a Czech friend of the British Royal Family, and has the full backing of the Czech senate, where

On Tuesday a court in Prague began hearing the case against Ludmila Brozova-Polednova, the last living participant in one of the most notorious show trials of communist-era Czechoslovakia. In 1950, Mrs Brozova-Polednova was a 29-year-old prosecutor who helped condemn the democratic politician Milada Horakova to death. Now 86, she is being tried as an accomplice to murder.

Representatives of around thirty Czech and international NGOs gathered outside the Czech Senate on Monday, to hand over a petition to the Senate's chairman. The issue that had made them unite was a proposed change to the law which if approved, they said, would deny foreigners seeking residency in the Czech Republic some of their basic human rights. Czech MPs are currently discussing whether foreigners who marry Czechs should automatically be granted a long-term residency permit in the country - or whether this system is currently too open to abuse.

After 17 years, property settlement between the Czech state and the churches active in the country finally seems to be is sight. Culture Minister Vaclav Jehlicka announced on Sunday that a governmental commission in charge of property settlement issues arrived at an agreement with church representatives, and that the first draft of the settlement bill is ready. Although the situation is somewhat more complicated than that, Czech churches and religious associations in the country do finally have good chances of their property claims being